CROUSE
Period 6 – 1900 -Present
Ch 21 : The Great War— World in Upheaval
I. The drift toward war
A. nationalist aspirations
1. nationalism spread by the French Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, and American Revolution
a. self-determination sugg. that each ethnic group had a right to a sovereign state
b. Ottoman empire shrank as first Greece, then others, gained independence
2. Slavic nationalism: stressed kinship of all Slavic peoples
a. Serbs of Austria-Hungary sought unification with independent Serbia
b. Russians promoted Pan-Slavism in Austro-Hungarian empire
c. Germany backed Austria-Hungary to fight ethnic nationalism
B. national rivalries/competition
1. naval race btw. Germany/Britain; Ger. rapid industrial. threatened Br. economic dominance
2. colonial disputes of the late 19th century
a. Germany unified in 1871; came late to the colonial race
b. Britain and Russia fight over Afghanistan and Persia (“Great Game”)
c. Britain and France over Siam/Thailand and the Nile River Valley
3. public opinion supported national rivalries
a. attitudes of aggressive patriotism among European citizens
b. leaders under pressure to be aggressive, to take risks
C. understandings and alliances
1. rival systems of alliance obligated allies to come to one another's defense
2. Central Powers
a. Ger./Austria-Hungary formed a Dual Alliance 1879; Italy in 1882 = Triple Alliance
b. Ottoman empire loosely affiliated w. Germany; Bismarck wanted to isolate France
3. Allies -- Britain, France, and Russia formed the Triple Entente/ Allies
D. war plans = all out war; military leaders devised inflexible military plans and timetables
1. Germany's Schlieffen plan was swift attack on France, then be able to deal with Russia
E. Anxious to fight – was expected to be brief ; few remembered the devastation of war in 1870s
II. Global war
A. sparks and fires
1. June 1914, Austrian Archduke assassinated by Serbian nationalist
2. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, July 28
3. Russia mobilized troops to defend its Serbian ally against the Central Powers
4. Germany declared war on Russia and France, invaded Belgium to reach France
5. Br. declared war on Germ. – to protect Belgium’s neutrality; Germ. was the more serious threat
B. mutual butchery
1. western front
a. German invasion of France halted along the river Marne for 3 years = stalemate
b. trenches on the western front ran from the English Channel to Switzerland
c. Italy changed sides; maintained defensive line against Austria-Hungary—opposed to Germany’s attack on neutral Belgium; wanted territory and to be on winning side
d. stalemate - new technologies favored defensive tactics over offensive tactics
i. poisonous gas: introduced by Germans, used by both sides; 800,000 casualties
ii. armored tanks used to break down trenches
iii. machine guns
iv. airplanes used mainly for reconnaissance
v. submarines used especially by Germans against Allied shipping; unrestricted submarine warfare – Germany would attack British ships without warning
e. both sides hoped the other would simply run out of men; when US joined, Germany did
2. eastern front, battle lines more fluid; Russia lacked supplies
3. bloodletting: long, costly battles
a. Verdun: French "victory" with 315,000 dead, defeated Germans lost 280,000
b. Somme, Britain and Germany saw losses of 420,000 each
C. “total war”: first modern war in which civilians are targeted and most of society was involved
1. economy mobilized to aid the war effort
a. governments militarized civilian war production
b. imposed wage and price controls
c. extended military draft (in Germany from ages 16-60)
2. women served the war by entering the workforce
a. took over jobs vacated by soldiers
b. did hazardous work with explosives, shells, TNT
c. liberating experience, especially for middle- and upper-class women
d. women granted the vote in western nations after the war
e. Russian women fought on the battle lines
3. propaganda campaigns to maintain national support for the war
a. included censorship and restrictions on civil liberties
b. criticism of the war regarded as treasonous
c. propaganda designed to dehumanize the enemy
4. conflict in E. Asia and the Pacific – Br. and Fr. forces recruited colonials into their armies
5. Japan entered war with the Allies, 1914
a. seized German-leased territory in China
b. New Zealand and Australia also seized German-held lands in the Pacific
6. Twenty-One Demands (1915) were designed to reduce China to Japanese protectorate, but Britain intervened, prevented total capitulation of China to Japan
D. battles in Africa and southwest Asia
1. war in sub-Saharan Africa - Allies targeted the four German colonies in Africa
2. Battle of Gallipoli, 1915, in Ottoman Turkey
a. British decided to strike at the weakest Central Power, the Ottomans
b. Battle of Gallipoli a disaster, with 250,000 casualties on each side
c. weakened ties of loyalty between Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Britain
3. Ottoman empire lost ground after Gallipoli
a. lost Caucasus to Russians
b. successful Arab revolt aided by British
4. Armenian Genocide – 1,500,000 dead; 500,000 refugees
a. Young Turk regime, an ultra-nationalistic group, was determined to rid the Ottoman Empire of Christian Armenians
III. The end of the Great War
A. Revolution in Russia
1. February Revolution of 1917: uprising against shortages, mounting deaths in the war
a. facing mutinies, Nicholas II abdicated throne
b. Provisional government established
2. struggle for power between provisional government and Petrograd soviet
a. new government passed many liberal reforms
b. did not undertake land reform, did not withdraw from the war
3. V. I. Lenin (1870-1924) stepped into unstable situation
a. revolutionary Marxist, exiled in Switzerland
b. saw importance of a well-organized, disciplined party for revolution
c. German authorities delivered Lenin to Russia, 1917, to take Russia out of war
d. headed radical Bolshevik Party: demanded power for soviets, withdrawal from war
e. October Revolution - minority Bolsheviks gained control of Petrograd soviet
f. Bolsheviks' slogan "Peace, Land, and Bread" appealed to workers and peasants
4. Russia withdrew from war, made a separate peace with Germany, lost one-third of Ukraine
B. U.S. intervention and collapse of the Central Powers
1. 1914-1916, United States under President Woodrow Wilson officially neutral
a. American public opposed participation in a European war
b. U.S. companies sold supplies, gave loans to Allies
c. by 1917, Allied ability to repay loans depended on Allied victory
2. submarine warfare helped sway American public opinion
a. German blockade sank merchant ships, intended to strangle Britain
b. 1915, Germans sank Lusitania, a British passenger liner, killing 1,198 passengers
3. Zimmerman Letter –secret message btw. German diplomats suggested that Mexico might want to join forces with Germany and regain U.S. territory; U.S. intercepted the telegram
4. United States declared war on Germany, 6 April 1917
5. collapsing fronts after years of bloodletting
a. April 1916, Irish nationalists attempted to overthrow British rule
b. Central Powers: shortages, food riots, mutinies
c. 1917, mutiny of 50,000 French soldiers
C. effects of the war
1. The “Great War” is a marker event in world history because it is the first in a series of events that led to declining European power and ascending power for the United States and Japan; Versailles Treaty changed the nature of international relations and set the stage for WWII
2. in the end, the Great War killed 15-20 million people, wounded 20 million
3. Paris settlement was dominated by heads of Britain, France, and United States
a. 27 nations with conflicting aims participated
b. leaders of Central Powers and Soviet Union not included
4. Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points: proposal for a just and lasting peace (not used)
a. included free trade, arms treaties, rights for colonials, an association of nations
b. most of the program rejected by Allies; Central Powers felt betrayed
5. Treaty of Versailles/Paris Peace Treaty, 1919
a. Germany was supposed to accept the blame for the war
b. Germany lost land along all borders, including Alsace-Lorraine and Polish Corridor
c. German military forces were severely restricted and a demilitarized zone was created along lands bordering France and Belgium
d. Germany had to pay very high reparations for war to France and Britain
e. an international organization called the League of Nations was created
f. Germany’s overseas possessions were placed under the control of the League of Nations, remaining as mandates until they were ready for independence
g. map of Eastern Europe was redrawn along ethnic lines, recreating the country of Poland, and creating Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Austria, and Hungary; Austria-Hungary as a political entity was gone
h. Ottoman Empire was dismantled w. Turkey a country and the other territories as mandates because they were on the losing side
6. Ataturk: Mustafa Kemal, father of modern Turkey
a. implemented reforms: emancipation of women, western dress, European law
b. secular rule replaced Muslim authorities
c. constitutional democracy, although Ataturk ruled as virtual dictator until 1938
7. League of Nations created to maintain world peace
a. 42 members, 26 of them outside Europe
b. league had no power to enforce its decisions
c. collective security depended on all major powers, but US never joined
8. self-determination for ethnic nationalities: urged by Wilson at Paris Conference
a. difficult to draw lines: German minorities left in Poland and Czechoslovakia
b. Yugoslavia: land of southern Slaves, uneasy mix of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes
9. mandate system
a. Allies divided up Germany's African colonies and Ottoman territories in S.W. Asia
b. Arabs outraged at betrayal by their British allies
10. Communists take over Russia
D. challenges to European preeminence
1. Great War weakened Europe, set the stage for decolonization after World War II
a. economic crises: inflation, debt, loss of overseas investments, foreign markets
b. economic relationship btw. Europe and US reversed; United States now creditor
c. loss of prestige overseas weakened European grip on colonies; leads to decolonization
2. Dawes Plan (1924) – loans to Germany and Austria to pay reparations to the French and British so France and Britain could pay off their debt to the US
Ch 21 : An Age of Anxiety
I. p robing cultural frontiers
A. postwar pessimism
1. "lost generation"
a. term used to describe pessimism of U.S. and European thinkers after the war
b. literature - postwar poetry and fiction reflected disillusionment with western culture
i. existentialism – each person finds their own meaning in life
2. attacks on the ideal of progress
a. religious thought reflected uncertainty and pessimism -- Older concepts of original sin and human depravity revived
b. science tarnished by the technological horrors of World War I
c. many intellectuals disillusioned with democracy
B. revolutions in physics and psychology
1. Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, 1906
a. space and time relative to the person measuring them
b. implication: reality or truth is merely a set of mental constructions
2. Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, 1927
a. impossible to state the position and velocity of a subatomic particle at same time
b. atomic universe indeterminate; can only speak of probabilities
c. challenged long-held assumptions about truth, cause and effect
3. Freud's psychoanalytic theory, 1896
a. sought psychological causes of mental illness
b. conflict between conscious and unconscious mental processes
c. sexual repression frequent cause of neuroses
d. Freud's ideas shaped psychiatric profession and influenced literature and arts
C. experimentation in art and architecture
II. g lobal depression
A. Great Depression
1. weaknesses of global economy
a. tangled financial relationships Dawes Plan – any one failure would mess up the circle
b. 1928 U.S. lenders withdrew capital from Europe; financial system strained
c. industrial innovations reduced demand for raw materials--rubber, coal, cotton
d. collapse of worldwide agricultural prices
2. crash of 1929
a. U.S. economic boom prompted many to speculate, invest beyond their means
b. easy credit
c. Black Thursday (24 October 1929): stock prices dropped, investors lost life savings
d. lenders called in loans, forcing investors to keep selling
3. economic contraction in U.S. economy and the world
a. overproduction and reduced consumer demand led to widespread business failure and unemployment (By 1932 U.S. industrial production and national income dropped by half)
4. industrial economies felt banking crisis, unemployment
a. weak banking system
b. European industrial states and Japan unable to sell to US because of tariffs
c. Germany and Japan unable to sell manufactured goods to purchase fuel and food
d. economic nationalism favored over international cooperation
B. despair and government action
1. government policy to reduce female employment, especially of married women
2. Great Depression caused enormous personal suffering
a. marriage and birthrates declined, suicide increased
b. intensified social divisions and class hatreds
C. economic experimentation
1. John M. Keynes challenged classical economic theory
a. classic theory: capitalism self-correcting, operated best if unregulated
b. Keynes argued the depression was a problem of inadequate demand, not supply
c. governments should play active role in stimulating economy, consumer demand
2. New Deal of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt utilized Keynes's ideas
a. after 1932, protected banking system, massive public works, farm subsidies
b. legislation established minimum wage, social security, workers' unions
c. military spending in WWII ultimately ended the depression in United States
3. USSR escaped the Great Dep. –due to communism and isolation
III. c hallenges to the liberal order
A. communism in Russia (economic and political issues)
1. civil war, 1918-1920, between Bolsheviks and anticommunist forces, or the Whites
a. Red Terror: secret police arrested and killed 200,000 suspected Whites
b. Bolsheviks executed Tsar Nicholas II and his entire family, June 1918
c. despite some foreign support, the Whites were defeated by Red Army in 1920
d. perhaps ten million died during civil war
2. Lenin's "war communism" transformed economy
a. policy included nationalizing banks, industry, and church holdings
b. private trade abolished; peasants reduced their production
c. by 1920, industrial output at one-tenth, agricultural output at half prewar levels
3. Lenin's New Economic Policy (NEP), 1921
a. reversed war communism, restored market economy
b. returned small-scale industries to private ownership
c. allowed peasants to sell their surplus at free market
d. Lenin died, 1924; bitter power struggle followed
4. Joseph Stalin (1879-1953)
a. "man of steel": Georgian by birth, Russian nationalist by conviction
b. Stalin favored "socialism in one country," not international socialism